I just adore chicken soup and have shared so many recipes in the past.  This time I’m sharing a different one with a delightful Asian flair.  This soup is so delicious and loaded with good-for-you ingredients. I’m using brown rice instead of noodles, lean chicken, edamame, mushrooms, scallions and ginger.  A 1 cup serving has 211 calories, 4 grams of fat and 5 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients for Soup:

3 (14 oz) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth, I like Swanson’s

2 cups mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon sherry, optional

1 tablespoon ginger (in a jar), see shopping tip

2 cups cooked chicken breasts, cut into small chunks, see shopping tip

1¼ cups frozen or fresh edamame, shelled

½ cup scallions (green onions), sliced

1½ cups cooked brown rice, I love Basmati brown rice, see shopping tip

Ingredients for Garnish: (optional)

¼ cup scallions, sliced

Sesame seeds

Instructions

1. In a large pot, add chicken broth, mushrooms, soy sauce, sugar, sherry and ginger and mix well.  Turn heat up to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

2. Stir in the chicken, edamame and ½ cup scallions.  Continue to cook for 10 more minutes.  Add brown rice and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

3. Ladle 1 cup into each bowl.  Sprinkle with a little scallions and sesame seeds, if desired.

Makes 8 cups (each serving, 1 cup)

Healthy Benefits
Edamame (soybeans) are extremely high in protein and fiber, provide useful amounts of B vitamins, significant calcium and a little zinc.

Mushrooms contain fiber, iron, niacin, folate, vitamin C and complex carbohydrates.

Brown rice is a good source of magnesium which helps to maintain proper blood pressure.  It also contains a fair amount of fiber, iron, niacin, thiamine and vitamin B6.

I love the flavor of Swanson’s chicken broth however, if you’re on a reduced-sodium diet, choose a broth with much less sodium.

Shopping Tips
My favorite rice to use is Basmati brown rice.  You can find it now in most supermarkets.  I bought it at Trader Joe’s.

I love the cooked chicken breasts at Trader Joe’s but any cooked and skinned chicken will work just fine.

Chopped or crushed ginger, in a jar, can be found in the produce section near garlic, in a jar.

Weight Watchers (old points) 4
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 5